HERKNER GIFTWARE

Hand crafted in Barcelona, Spain, Nouveau 1910 is created by implementing all of the same techniques as originally practiced in the Art Nouveau time period. Each piece created is made of 18kt gold and enameling comprised of a special glass mixed with some metallic and iron oxides for color. Each piece is made by hand and no two pieces are ever truly identical.

The rare and exacting art of plique-a-jour enameling is at the heart of the unmistakable jewelry created by Nouveau 1910, of Barcelona, Spain. This technique, where layer upon layer is meticulously applied to 18k gold, results in rich colors and delicate shading that would be impossible to produce any other way. To achieve its brilliance and durability, each piece is baked, more than 20 times, in temperatures of over 1000 degrees.

Today, as we stand at the gates of the 21st century that expressive artistic movement of Art Nouveau still survives in the Mediterranean capital. Three generations later, the designer, Pere Arquer –through Nouveau 1910– introduces his collection. His jewels are like paintings, with a statement of figurative and descriptive function always combining “the poetic” with an exquisite beauty. His stained glass “plique à jour”, also internationally known as Barcelona stained glass, and his enamels impregnate medium colors that radiate a mysterious energy. Soft foliaceous shapes climb up the body of a nymph holding a precious stone in her hands with an indescribable lightness and grace. He shares with the artists of Art Nouveau unconventional motifs; lifelike plants and flowers, hermafrodites inspired by mythology, girls’ bodies and faces with serene beauty, mermaids, and fabulous dragons…Let these timeless works of art lift our imaginations to the spiritual, eternal world and, deliver us to the realm which is Nouveau 1910.